Traffic Management and Networking for Autonomous Vehicular Highway Systems

We develop traffic management and data networking mechanisms and study their integrated design for an autonomous transportation system. The traffic management model involves a multi-lane multi-segment highway. Ramp managers regulate admission of vehicles into the highway and their routing to designated lanes. Vehicles moving across each lane are organized into platoons. A Platoon Leader (PL) is elected in each platoon and is used to manage its members and their communications with the infrastructure and with vehicles in other platoons. We develop new methods that are employed to determine the structural formations of platoons and their mobility processes in each lane, aiming to maximize the realized flow rate under vehicular end-to-end delay constraints. We set a limit on the vehicular on-ramp queueing delay and on the (per unit distance) transit time incurred along the highway. We make use of the platoon formations to develop new Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) wireless networking cross-layer schemes that are used to disseminate messages among vehicles traveling within a specified neighborhood. For this purpose, we develop algorithms that configure a hierarchical networking architecture for the autonomous system. Certain platoon leaders are dynamically assigned to act as Backbone Nodes (BNs). The latter are interconnected by communications links to form a Backbone Network (Bnet). Each BN serves as an access point for its Access Network (Anet), which consists of its mobile clients. We study the delay-throughput performance behavior of the network system and determine the optimal setting of its parameters, assuming both TDMA and IEEE 802.11p oriented wireless channel sharing (MAC) schemes. Integrating these traffic management and data networking mechanisms, we demonstrate the performance tradeoffs available to the system designer and manager when aiming to synthesize an autonomous transportation system operation that achieves targeted vehicular flow rates and transit delays while also setting the data communications network system to meet targeted message throughput and delay objectives

A Survey on platoon-based vehicular cyber-physical systems

Vehicles on the road with some common interests can cooperatively form a platoon-based driving pattern, in which a vehicle follows another one and maintains a small and nearly constant distance to the preceding vehicle. It has been proved that, compared to driving individually, such a platoon-based driving pattern can significantly improve the road capacity and energy efficiency. Moreover, with the emerging vehicular adhoc network (VANET), the performance of platoon in terms of road capacity, safety and energy efficiency, etc., can be further improved. On the other hand, the physical dynamics of vehicles inside the platoon can also affect the performance of VANET. Such a complex system can be considered as a platoon-based vehicular cyber-physical system (VCPS), which has attracted significant attention recently. In this paper, we present a comprehensive survey on platoon-based VCPS. We first review the related work of platoon-based VCPS. We then introduce two elementary techniques involved in platoon-based VCPS: the vehicular networking architecture and standards, and traffic dynamics, respectively. We further discuss the fundamental issues in platoon-based VCPS, including vehicle platooning/clustering, cooperative adaptive cruise control (CACC), platoon-based vehicular communications, etc., and all of which are characterized by the tight coupled relationship between traffic dynamics and VANET behaviors. Since system verification is critical to VCPS development, we also give an overview of VCPS simulation tools. Finally, we share our view on some open issues that may lead to new research directions

Managing Congestion in Vehicular Networks Using Tabu Search

© 2018, Springer Nature Switzerland AG. In this era of communication, exponentially growing networks bring a lot of challenges to address for smoother network functionalities. Among them is efficiency in handling packet traffic to avoid and control congestion. A particular case is applicable to Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks, which are known with unbalanced resource utilisation, communication overheads, high transmission delay and least transmission capacity. This paper aims to minimise the delay and jitter for enhancing the Quality of Service (QoS) in Vehicular Adhoc Networks (VANET) using tabu search algorithm with multi-channel allocation capability. We proposed a scheme that prioritises each message considering the basis of message type or its substances, such as crisis, reference point, and administration oriented etc., and uses tabu search for scheduling the transmission of queued messages in order to enhance the efficiency, security, and durability of VANET. A comprehensive simulation is conducted to validate the proposed scheme and to evaluate the performances in comparison with other state-of-the-art approaches

An Optimal UAV Deployment Algorithm for Bridging Communication

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IEEE via the DOI in this record.In recent years, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have attracted the attention of both the military and civilians because of their deployment in situations where part of the communication infrastructure is destroyed due to bomb blast, earthquake, flood, military operations or landslides. Also UAVs can be used in operations such as search and rescue, surveillance, forest fire monitoring, and border patrolling. Deployment of a UAV in a position where it can provide maximum coverage and high throughput is one of the vital problem that needs to be addressed. In this paper, we have proposed an optimal UAV deployment algorithm (OUDA) in order to bridge communication between two static nodes on the ground. In the proposed algorithm the UAV deploys to a position where it can provide the best communication facilities to both the nodes based on the received signal strength (RSS), and distance between nodes and UAV. Simulation results showed that the algorithm provides maximum throughput and low bit error rate (BER) once the UAV is fixed to an optimal position

Adaptive messaging based on AoI for congestion control in VANETs

Improvement of the energy efficiency of communication protocols through the usage of modern AI techniques like Machine Learning. With regards to all kinds of applications like vehicular communications or other distributed services.Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks (VANETs) are mostly used to support safety applications within mobility environments. But the nature of such communications, where the networks are highly dynamic, with messages usually broadcasted and without any acknowledgements or prior knowledge of who will receive a sent packet; makes these networks easy to get congested. Especially in urban environments, where it?s easy to find large amounts of vehicles in a relatively small area. This project makes use of the Age of Information (AoI) theory and metrics to design a new Cooperative Awareness Message (CAM) dissemination algorithm which automatically handles the frequency of sending messages adjusting itself to the congestion. Proving that, using this AoIaware algorithm, there is a better performance than the standardized solution

An Investigation into the Performance Evaluation of Connected Vehicle Applications: From Real-World Experiment to Parallel Simulation Paradigm

A novel system was developed that provides drivers lane merge advisories, using vehicle trajectories obtained through Dedicated Short Range Communication (DSRC). It was successfully tested on a freeway using three vehicles, then targeted for further testing, via simulation. The failure of contemporary simulators to effectively model large, complex urban transportation networks then motivated further research into distributed and parallel traffic simulation. An architecture for a closed-loop, parallel simulator was devised, using a new algorithm that accounts for boundary nodes, traffic signals, intersections, road lengths, traffic density, and counts of lanes; it partitions a sample, Tennessee road network more efficiently than tools like METIS, which increase interprocess communications (IPC) overhead by partitioning more transportation corridors. The simulator uses logarithmic accumulation to synchronize parallel simulations, further reducing IPC. Analyses suggest this eliminates up to one-third of IPC overhead incurred by a linear accumulation model

Cyberphysical Constructs and Concepts for Fully Automated Networked Vehicles

Human lives are at stake in networked systems of automated vehicles. Drawing from mature domains where life/safety critical cyberphysical systems have already been deployed as well as from various scientific disciplines, we introduce the SPEC (Safety, Privacy, Efficiency, Cybersecurity) problem which arises in self-organizing and self-healing networks of fully automated terrestrial vehicles, and CMX functionalities intended for vehicular onboard systems. CM stands for Coordinated Mobility, X stands for S, P, E and C. The CMX framework encompasses cyberphysical constructs (cells, cohorts) endowed with proven properties, onboard proactive security modules, unfalsifiable cyberphysical levels, protocols and distributed algorithms for timed-bounded inter-vehicular communications, reliable message dissemination, trusted explicit agreements/coordination, and privacy preserving options that insulate passengers from illegitimate internal cyber-surveillance and external eavesdropping and tracking. We establish inter alia that safety and privacy can be obtained jointly, by design. The focus of this report is on SE properties. Notably, we show how to achieve theoretical absolute safety (0 fatalities and 0 severe injuries in rear-end collisions and pileups) and highest efficiency (smallest safe inter-vehicular gaps) jointly, by design, in spontaneous cohorts of vehicles. Results conveyed in this report shall open new opportunities for innovative research and development of high societal impact.Les vies humaines sont en jeu dans les réseaux de véhicules automatisés, à l’instar de domaines matures où des systèmes critiques en matière de sécurité-innocuité ont déjà été déployés. Les connaissances acquises dans ces domaines ainsi que dans diverses disciplines scientifiques permettent de définir le problème SPEC (Safety, Privacy, Efficiency, Cybersecurity) qui se pose dans les réseaux auto-organisés et auto-réparateurs de véhicules terrestres à conduite entièrement automatisée. On introduit CMX, un ensemble de fonctionnalités destinées aux systèmes bord. CM est l’abréviation de Coordinated Mobility, et X signifie S, P, E et C. L’ensemble CMX repose sur des constructions cyberphysiques (cellules, cohortes) dotées de propriétés prouvées, les concepts de module de sécurité proactif et de niveaux cyberphysiques infalsifiables, des protocoles et des algorithmes distribués pour communications inter-véhiculaires en temps borné, dissémination fiable de messages, coordination et accords explicites dignes de confiance, ainsi que sur des options de protection de la vie privée qui permettent aux passagers d’interdire la cyber-surveillance illégitime interne et externe (écoutes radio et pistage des trajets). On établit qu’il est possible de garantir conjointement sécurité-innocuité (safety) et respect de la vie privée (privacy), par conception. Ce rapport est consacré aux propriétés SE. En particulier, on montre comment obtenir la sécurité-innocuité absolue théorique (taux nul de mortalité et de graves blessures en cas de collisions longitudinales) et maximiser l’efficacité (espaces inter-véhiculaires minimaux) conjointement, par conception, dans les cohortes spontanées de véhicules. Les résultats contenus dans ce rapport devraient ouvrir de nouvelles perspectives de recherche et développement à fort impact sociétal